News24.com | Why we should all be worried about Julius‘ gun

I was listening with interest to how people were either defending our justifying on radio this morning and further saw this rising trend on Twitter.

It really worries me that critical thinking is such a diminished trait for South Africans. We have been very consistent in choosing questionable leaders only to cry victim when these leaders show their true colours to us. I remember how heartbroken I was when people were dismissive of Jacob Zuma’s rape charges, then further erased his corruption charges. Eventually he rose to the throne and we had a reign of terror infused with corruption that left all feeling disgruntled and angry.

We are yet again backing a questionable horse. Malema has a long, questionable history of alleged corruption, which is no surprise as the ANC had exposed him to that life in their mentorship to him. Now the EFF is funded by questionable people and yet people are turning a blind eye.

The EFF has on numerous occasions shown they are pro-violence and if you don’t agree with them, you will get their red flames. Is that the leadership we want?

In a country filled with so much violence – from hijackings to femicide – you would have thought a sober leader would be mindful not to play around with guns and moreover, that a sober nation would call the leader out when he is in the wrong. But not in South Africa. We have reduced ourselves to political puppets used by power hungry leaders to push their agendas, from Afriforum to the ANC to the EFF. Our irresponsible leadership finds energy from creating division, hatred, thuggery and lies. But we only get the leadership we deserve.

It is a sad reality that we don’t have a clear leader who is without skeletons in their closet. We are left to choose from the best of the worst. We however need to hold our leaders accountable and clearly articulate the type of leadership, values and principles we will expect from a leader in South Africa. It is for this reason that I am proud that as women we held President Cyril Ramaphosa accountable for not recognising the significance of the Total Shutdown march.

We also need to hold Julius Malema accountable and make him understand that we will not have a leader who plays around with guns – be it a toy or not. Let us not create a monster in Julius Malema because we are annoyed at Afriforum. Let us not be so blinded by pain, anger and hatred that we fail to give constructive feedback to those close to us.

We certainly appreciate that the EFF has managed to get the ANC to remember that the people did not vote for them to be overnight millionaires and steal from us, but we cannot have the EFF thinking they too are beyond reproach. Our country is in dire need of leadership that is truly people-centric; leadership that will understand that quality education of a black child is important and not offer increased grants; leadership that understand that proper healthcare is key and not chase after cigarette legislation; leadership that appreciates that true impact should bring socio-economic change for everyone and not only those who share either blood, dinner or business interest with them.

We need leadership that appreciates that we have a very painful past that should not be used to create wars but rather to bring societal reformation, to have every South African appreciate that they have a role to play in creating a poverty and violence free society.